Remember ETwaun Moore? The player viewed by many as the other rookie in the Boston Celtics multi-team deal with the Houston Rockets to land Courtney Lee? Now hes making a name for himself on the Orlando Magic.
The Celtics selected Moore with the 55th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He saw limited playing time during his first year in Boston, averaging just 8.7 minutes in 38 games (2.9 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists). His breakout game wasappropriately against the Magic last January when he scored 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench while Rajon Rondo was sidelined.
The 23-year-old guard had a solid summer league performance for the Celtics, including 25 points and seven rebounds in his final game. But when the Cs needed to move players in order to acquire Lee, Moore was packaged with fellow rookie JaJuan Johnson and Sean Williams and sent to the Rockets. Four days later, he was waived.
The Magic signed Moore as a free agent in September and the Purdue University alum got to work in the city where he had made a mark earlier in the in the year. In his first three games of the season, including two starts, he is averaging 15.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 32.0 minutes. Moore is also shooting 55.9 percent from the field and a team-high 70.0 percent from three-point range.
Ive seen a maturation already just within the month of seeing his decision-making, his confidence, his ability to make shots for us, Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn said, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Moore will show his former team how far his game has come when the Celtics visit the Magic on November 25.